Compression of pharmaceutical compositions is traditionally limited to active pharmaceutical ingredients that possess favorable binding and flow characteristics or is achieved through the process of granulating the active pharmaceutical ingredient with blending additive such as binders and flow agents that facilitate compression. Most dosage forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients that are susceptible to tackiness in the tableting process require a granulation step or the use of roller compression. Such a process adds cost and complexity to the manufacture of even relatively simple formulations and may affect in vivo performance and stability.
Exemplary of this problem is the pharmaceutical active ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is 2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propionic acid and is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compound (NSAID), which exhibits high levels of anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities necessary for the effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteo-arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Ibuprofen is not directly compressible, and attempts to manufacture ibuprofen directly result in tablets portions thereof which stick to the faces of the tableting press, are too friable for storage or transport, or split into two or more segments when expelled from the tableting press.
To circumvent those manufacturing problems, those skilled in the art employ a granulation step prior to tableting, in which the pharmaceutical active is wet granulated with an excipient, such as a blending additive, to form a granular composition comprising the pharmaceutical active and the blending additive. This granular composition can then blended with further excipients and/or is directly compressible for the manufacture of a suitable solid dosage form. Therefore, a need exists for an alternative to granulation to facilitate the preparation of tablets containing active pharmaceutical ingredients that are susceptible to tackiness.